Lyric Arts Academy collaborates with Writers & Books

Margaret Dilmore, founder of Lyric Arts Academy, shares her love of music and the arts with anyone who walks through her door.

Her academy, having relocated from Farmington to 90 E. Main St. in Victor, opened at its new location on July 1.

Dilmore teaches children violin and viola at Lyric Arts. The academy also offers piano and voice lessons to children and adults.

Her dream of creating programming that combines multiple art forms will launch with a Columbus Day workshop for kids ages 8-11 titled "The Write Moment," in collaboration with Writers & Books, based in Rochester.

According to Sally Bittner Bonn, director of Youth Services at Writers & Books, the collaboration with Lyric Arts Academy is "a perfect fit."

“The interplay between music and language and the sounds of words is the basis for this programming," Bittner Bonn said. "We see a great opportunity for word games and exercises for youth wanting to explore the interaction between language and music.”

Bittner Bonn said this is a pilot program to be expanded based upon response from the community.

In addition to music instruction, Lyric Arts hosts an adult choir and is home to a string ensemble.

Dilmore, daughter of a violin teacher, and one of nine children each trained on a musical instrument, studied viola because “my family quartet already had a violinist and a cellist but was lacking a violist.”

Amazed by the developmental changes in her youngest students, Dilmore said, “When you begin to study an instrument at 3, like some of my students, you’re not just learning how to play the violin, you’re developing a different type of thinking.”

She expressed a concern about the lack of arts education for children.

“We’ve lost sight of what the arts do. Our schools and their administrations simply don’t value creative thinking," Dilmore said. "What will happen when this generation of kids grows up and they’re asked to find creative solutions? They’re not going to have the training that creative expression provides."

This fall, Dilmore will offer "The Grace Notes," a program for 4-6 year-olds that teaches the basics of singing, playing rhythm instruments and dancing.

More about the collaboration

To kick-start the collaboration, WAB is presenting "The Write Moment," a one-day workshop in creative writing for ages 8 to 11. The class will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 14, at Lyric Arts Academy, 90 E. Main St., Victor.To register for "The Write Moment," call (585) 473-2590.